What was going on when I was born?

New York City announced yesterday a series of steps that it hoped would unsnarl weekday traffic in Manhattan's business districts. As part of the plan, greater traffic access will be provided in lower Central Park, and the distance between bus stops on Madison and other avenues will be increased. The plan, which will be introduced beginning today, follows Mayor Koch's decision two weeks ago to begin a ticket-writing blitz against double parking in midtown. Other parts of the program include the painting of ''antigridlock boxes'' at 10 clogged intersections and the creation of lanes exclusively for buses on a number of the avenues.

There was a scowl on Billy Cunningham's face with every Philadelphia mistake. There was a snap of the fingers when Kevin McHale blocked two straight shots by Julius Erving, and angry words when Maurice Cheeks lost the ball or Larry Bird stole it from him. Frustration ran high for Cunningham as the Boston Celtics defeated his Philadelphia 76ers, 98-94, today before a capacity crowd of 15,320 at Boston Garden. For three periods the Celtics dominated on defense. When the 76ers finally woke up with a 35-point fourth quarter, it was too late. .

Business bankruptcies are spreading through the nation's economy at a spectacular pace, largely because of last year's recession and current high interest rates. In the first 10 weeks of this year, business bankruptcy filings soared to 2,933, a gain of 63 percent from the comparable period last year and the highest number reported for the period since 1963. The gain early last year was already 53 percent above that for the similar period in 1979, according to data released last week by Dun & Bradstreet Inc. While the rash of business failures has swept across nearly the entire spectrum of business concerns - manufacturing, wholesaling and retail services have all experienced increases of more than 60 percent - a few areas were especially hard-hit. Problems in Housing and Autos ''Contractors are really taking a bath around the country,'' said Leonard Andrews, whose company publishes the National Bankruptcy Reporter, a legal newsletter. New housing construction plunged 25 percent in 1980, its worst performance since 1975, ruining many small contractors.

Indiana is a slight favorite over North Carolina to win the 43d annual National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball championship when the two teams meet tomorrow night in the Spectrum. However, no coach in college basketball or other person was willing to come out strongly in favor of the Hoosiers for what is expected to be one of the most physical and closely fought finals in many years. Meanwhile, Bobby Knight, Indiana's coach, spent much of the time at a news conference today explaining a shoving incident he was involved in with a Louisiana State basketball fan last night. The altercation occurred at the Cherry Hill Inn in New Jersey just a few hours after the Hoosiers had beaten L.S.U., 67-49, in the first semifinal game. Knight said the incident stemmed from an obscene remark made by the fan. No charges were filed.

''We must know that Solidarity is in the first place the working class itself.'' - Kazimierz Cypryniak, a Communist Party official from Szczecin. (A8:3.)

South African maids organize, but fear wrath of 'madam' A2 Ex-Premier confirms there was a '68 plot in Britain to oust him A3 Viola takes his turn as President of Argentina A3 Two gunmen wound aide to Kho- meini in Iran A3 Around the World A5 Pope again appeals for peaceful settlement in Poland A8 Tass steps up criticism of Polish trade union organization A9 Japanese flock to exhibition of the future A13 Government/Politics About Washington: concepts and flesh-and-blood horses A14 Mayor Byrne's move has led to flurry of action at project A14 Disputes have split Michigan's Democratic Party A16 City to experiment with civil and misdemeanor trials at night B5 State tax collections increase 9.6 percent nationwide B10 General Around the Nation A14 Jersey mill city upset by story of drugs at school B2 Parade on Fifth Avenue marks Greek Independence Day B3 Use of "antigridlock boxes" ex- tended in Manhattan B6 An effort to restore historic Gov- ernor's Room at City Hall B9 A man the U.S. has been trying to deport for 28 years goes on trial B12 Christian feminists divided on theological issues B13 Labor/Industry Talks with two newspaper unions focus on noneconomic issues B4 Health/Science An April liftoff is planned for the space shuttle Columbia B15 SportsMonday Auto Racing: Reutemann's Wil- liams takes Brazil Grand Prix C5 Baseball: Guidry pitches strongly after contract talks C2 Mets face a familiar problem: Who can handle third base? C9 Basketball: Celtics down 76ers and win division title C1 Bulls beat Pacers in finale, face Knicks in playoffs C8 Knicks end regular season with 103-95 victory over Nets C8 Indiana is favorite over North Carolina in N.C.A.A. final C1 Wood of Tar Heels: A pure shooter C6 Louisiana Tech beats Tennessee for women's collegiate title C5 Boxing: Leonard's 10th-round vic- tory a tuneup C13 Columns: Dave Anderson on Knight's lack of discipline C6 Red Smith on grandstand ro- mance C9 Golf: Rogers falters but takes Heritage Classic by stroke C4 Pat Bradley, on 70-278, is 5-shot winner in Kemper open C4 Hockey: Islanders win on Bossy's goal, take first place C2 Gretzky gets assist for 153d point and breaks Esposito's record C2 Horse Racing: Jolley has another Derby horse in Cure the Blues C4 Outdoors: New York State trout fishermen are optimistic C12 Running: London marathon ends in dead heat C8 Skiing: Consistency and good luck bring Phil Mahre the top prize C12 Soccer: Arrows beat St. Louis, 6-5, and win M.I.S.L. title C8 Tennis: Miss Navratilova beats Miss Jaeger in Garden final C3 McEnroe defeats Borg, 7-6, 6-4, in Milan final C3 Arts/Entertainment "The Tantalus," a mystery, is staged at the Clurman C14 Lauren Bacall's musical "Woman of the Year" opens C15 Bella Davidovich gives Carnegie Hall piano recital C15 Juilliard String Quartet plays Bartok and Brahms C15 Jane Fonda, mellower, a but still an activist C16 "Vile Florentines" by Timothy Holme is reviewed C18 "Show Business," Burns and Den- ver are Oscar warmups C19 Andras Schiff is pianist with Stutt- gart Chamber Orchestra C20 Style Relationships: A new way of look- ing at gossip C17 For Kathy Cronkite, a celebrated father C17 For Kathy Byrne, a controversial mother C17 Obituaries Oliver Unger, movie executive D10 Notes/Features Notes on People B8 News Analysis Michael Knight discusses Bos- ton's fiscal crisis B11 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A18 One more chance for Conrail Progress in our China relations College Board's wise decision Topics: Links Letters A18 Flora Lewis: public lassitude in the French election campaign A19 William Safire: Haig - not really a wounded lion A19 Robert Lekachman: supply-side economics' debt to Malthus A19 Felicia Lamport: "Leaves of Crass" A19

Now that its cat-and-mouse game with Brascan Ltd. is over, the Scott Paper Company can focus on a more fundamental challenge: holding its ground in what has been dubbed the Great Toilet Paper War. Actually, the current battle is for not only the toilet paper market, but for the paper towel and facial tissue fields as well. Taken together, these product lines and a few others make up the sanitary paper business, whose products analysts often refer to generically as tissue. Today, the stiffest competition is in the markets for toilet paper and paper towels - Scott's two most important products. Though it once ruled these markets, Scott had until recently been slipping badly in the face of an all-out assault by the Cincinnati marketing juggernaut Procter & Gamble.

Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. said today that the Soviet Union, East Germany and other Warsaw Pact nations had heightened preparations along Poland's borders for possible military intervention, but he added that there were signs that a major crisis could be avoided. Reflecting the overnight intelligence assessment of the situation in and around Poland, Mr. Haig gave a cautiously mixed evaluation of the latest events. Other officials said that they agreed with Mr. Haig that it was difficult to predict the outcome of what Mr. Haig called a ''very, very tense'' situation. What was most troubling for American officials, and Mr. Haig alluded to the information in an appearance on the NBC News program ''Meet the Press,'' were indications that fresh Soviet, East German and Czechoslovak troops have been introduced along the border as part of Warsaw Pact exercises. The maneuvers were supposed to have ended a few days ago, but they have been prolonged indefinitely.

Two of the nation's biggest petroleum companies, Texaco Inc. and Conoco Inc., have acknowledged that they submitted erroneous information to the Government about some of their natural gas wells that led in some cases to overcharges to customers. The errors were made when the companies applied to a Government agency for stripper status for a number of wells. Stripper wells produce small quantities of oil or gas and the owners of the wells are allowed to recover their costs at a higher rate than is applicable on most other wells. The applications for stripper classification, filed by Texaco, Conoco and the Southland Royalty Company, are described in revised filings demanded by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last September.

The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee says any tax relief bill sent to the House floor is likely to include two provisions that Administration officials have described as contrary to President Reagan's economic philosophy. Dan Rostenkowski, a Democrat from Illinois, said the provisions would be increases - still to be decided - in the personal exemption and the standard deduction. His committee is still holding hearings on tax relief and will not begin to draft a bill until late April. Mr. Rostenkowski is understood to be considering a proposal the Senate Finance Committee made last year. That proposal would add $100 to the $1,000 personal exemption and $100 to a single taxpayer's standard deduction (now $2,300) and $200 to a couple's standard deduction (now $3,400).

The hijackers of an Indonesian jetliner shot and wounded an American hostage today as he tried to flee the sweltering plane hours after a British passenger managed to escape. The American was in serious condition at a nearby hospital. Forty-nine passengers and crew members were still aboard the Garuda Airlines DC-9 at the Bangkok airport today as Indonesian officials negotiated with the hijackers. The hijackers, said to be armed with submachine guns, pistols, dynamite and grenades, seized the plane yesterday during a domestic Indonesian flight.

THE garnet-and-gold railroad car next to Doak Campbell Stadium is a symbol of success. On any Saturday night during Florida State University's home football season, the Golden Chiefs will gather on the deck of the car to eat and drink and to discuss Seminole football and ''The Great White Chief,'' Coach Bobby Bowden. Burt Reynolds and Robert Urich, actors and former Florida State football players, are among the school's 71 Golden Chiefs. George Steinbrenner, the principal owner of the New York Yankees, also paid the minimum annual contribution of $5,000 to join the group. So did Jim Smith, the state attorney general. ''It's a very exclusive thing,'' Andy Miller, the executive director of Seminole Boosters Inc., said. ''We really build it on snob appeal. It's something that the in group with money can identify with. You get two seats in the president's box and get to hobnob with the governor. You also get parking benefits with your name on it. How'd you like to wheel into the stadium and park in a spot with your name on it?''